Help requested—DLPR Dec 31st to Jan 2 or Dec 27 to 29

[MerissaAndMomLoveDis]

My daughter (21) and I will be coming from Amsterdam to Paris (following a river cruise) the afternoon of Dec 27 and departing Jan 2. I have been to Paris but she has not. Neither of us has been to Disneyland Paris. We are very familiar with the US parks. Due to the timing of our being in Paris, many of the highlights I want to show her will be closed Jan 1. We will depart early in Jan 2 for the airport. We do really want to go to Disneyland Paris. The options I am considering are:

(1) stay in Paris the whole time and do one long day on the 29th or 30th (looking at the ticket with included shuttle from Gare Du Nord) and spend New Years Eve in Paris,

(2) take train straight from Amsterdam to DLP on the 27th and spend 2 nights, arriving in the parks the afternoon on the 27 and departing the morning of the 29th. This option would give us a partial day on the 29, all day on the 30th, and all day on the 31st to see all the major places that will be closed on Jan 1st.

(3) Paris afternoon of Dec 27, all day 28, 29 and 30, then take train to DLPR early on Dec 31, spend Dec 31 and Jan 1 in the parks. This is attractive in that we will have something on our must do list to fill our whole day on Jan 1. is it foolish to consider New Years Eve in the parks? Is there a fireworks display? I would not go to one of the US parks on New Years Eve. I have been in the Magic Kingdom in Orlando on July 4 Independence Day and went in knowing it would be so overcrowded you would not get much accomplished and just enjoyed the special fireworks, but I had been in that park many times and was not saddened by getting little accomplished that day. Will New Years Eve in Disneyland Paris be that level of crowded/busy?

Please share any thoughts and advice.

 

[Karin1984]

I usually avoid the DLP during the Christmas holidays, way too busy for my liking. Despite that, I would just once want to celebrate the new year at Disney.
Yes, any of those days is going to be very crowded. Europe is on holiday from roughly the 26th to the 8th. In terms of crowds, it won't make much difference. The 31st might be even somewhat quieter, as tourists would more likely spend the evening in Paris with the fire works there, than in DLP. In DLP you will find the fans. And a lot of locals have their own traditions with their families, they might spend the evening at home. So I think the 31st/1st might be your best option, especially with Paris being closed on the 1st.

It hasn't been announced yet what DLP's plan for 2022 will be. Last year it got cancelled. The plan was have both parks open till midnight with fireworks at the end. The Studios would close at 00:30, and the Park had a hard ticket event from 20:00 - 02:00, you can enter the park as of 17:00.
For the party you can expect special fireworks, parades, a dj, a special very upscale dining experience, special characters.
There are usually several restaurants with special menus, very expensive (as in 400 euro p/p expensive)

Here you can read the review of 2019/2020. https://pixiedust.be/review-new-years-eve-party-2019-2020-at-disneyland-park/
Scroll down for the English version. There were also several of the Christmas shows going on. The writer is a bit 'I've seen this already', but it's all new to you, so that doesn't matter.

Is a busy special event day the best time for a first visit? Maybe, maybe not. There are pros and cons to it.
A pro is: Most people will sleep in on the 1st, so this day will have a very slow start and you will be able to squeeze in some rides. You can sleep on the plane home ;-)

 

[MerissaAndMomLoveDis]

I usually avoid the DLP during the Christmas holidays, way too busy for my liking. Despite that, I would just once want to celebrate the new year at Disney.
Yes, any of those days is going to be very crowded. Europe is on holiday from roughly the 26th to the 8th. In terms of crowds, it won't make much difference. The 31st might be even somewhat quieter, as tourists would more likely spend the evening in Paris with the fire works there, than in DLP. In DLP you will find the fans. And a lot of locals have their own traditions with their families, they might spend the evening at home. So I think the 31st/1st might be your best option, especially with Paris being closed on the 1st.

It hasn't been announced yet what DLP's plan for 2022 will be. Last year it got cancelled. The plan was have both parks open till midnight with fireworks at the end. The Studios would close at 00:30, and the Park had a hard ticket event from 20:00 - 02:00, you can enter the park as of 17:00.
For the party you can expect special fireworks, parades, a dj, a special very upscale dining experience, special characters.
There are usually several restaurants with special menus, very expensive (as in 400 euro p/p expensive)

Here you can read the review of 2019/2020. https://pixiedust.be/review-new-years-eve-party-2019-2020-at-disneyland-park/
Scroll down for the English version. There were also several of the Christmas shows going on. The writer is a bit 'I've seen this already', but it's all new to you, so that doesn't matter.

Is a busy special event day the best time for a first visit? Maybe, maybe not. There are pros and cons to it.
A pro is: Most people will sleep in on the 1st, so this day will have a very slow start and you will be able to squeeze in some rides. You can sleep on the plane home ;-)

This is very helpful. Thank you Karin1984!!!!!!

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I usually avoid the DLP during the Christmas holidays, way too busy for my liking. Despite that, I would just once want to celebrate the new year at Disney.
Yes, any of those days is going to be very crowded. Europe is on holiday from roughly the 26th to the 8th. In terms of crowds, it won't make much difference. The 31st might be even somewhat quieter, as tourists would more likely spend the evening in Paris with the fire works there, than in DLP. In DLP you will find the fans. And a lot of locals have their own traditions with their families, they might spend the evening at home. So I think the 31st/1st might be your best option, especially with Paris being closed on the 1st.

It hasn't been announced yet what DLP's plan for 2022 will be. Last year it got cancelled. The plan was have both parks open till midnight with fireworks at the end. The Studios would close at 00:30, and the Park had a hard ticket event from 20:00 - 02:00, you can enter the park as of 17:00.
For the party you can expect special fireworks, parades, a dj, a special very upscale dining experience, special characters.
There are usually several restaurants with special menus, very expensive (as in 400 euro p/p expensive)

Here you can read the review of 2019/2020. https://pixiedust.be/review-new-years-eve-party-2019-2020-at-disneyland-park/
Scroll down for the English version. There were also several of the Christmas shows going on. The writer is a bit 'I've seen this already', but it's all new to you, so that doesn't matter.

Is a busy special event day the best time for a first visit? Maybe, maybe not. There are pros and cons to it.
A pro is: Most people will sleep in on the 1st, so this day will have a very slow start and you will be able to squeeze in some rides. You can sleep on the plane home ;-)

Sorry to drag this out out of the blue, but thanks for your post as it was very helpful to us too. We just decided to start looking at adding DLP to our France trip and going on NYE for the special party seems like a nice idea. I think we'll stay onsite and aldo do park days on the 1st and 2nd, understanding that it'll be crowded. Hopefully not a lot of people will use the paid express passes and that will help since we would be okay with paying for it.